Sir, - Padraig Yeates attributes some of the recent fall in unemployment to the Employment Action Plan (The Irish Times, July 22nd). An examination of the figures shows that there are no grounds for saying the EAP played any part in the welcome decline in unemployment. This is particularly worrying, given that the Tanaiste, Mary Harney, in her own statement on the recent figures, also alluded to the success of the Employment Action Programme and her plans for its extension.
The Employment Action Plan involves the identification by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs of all 18 to 24-year-olds approaching six months' unemployment. These people are invited to attend an interview with FAS to discuss their future employment and training options.
During the period following the introduction of the plan in September 1998, unemployment in the 20-24 age group fell by 0.7 per cent. In the same period in 1997, prior to the introduction of the plan, unemployment for this age group fell by 2 per cent. In other words, the rate of decline in unemployment before the introduction of the plan was more than twice the decline under it.
Nor is there evidence to suggest that those targeted by the Plan fare any better than age groups which are not. In fact, the rate of reduction in unemployment for the period of the Employment Action Plan is the same for the 2534 age group who were not involved in the plan as it was for those aged 20-24.
For many years, the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) has advocated a supportive and quantifiable approach to prevent long-term unemployment. Since the launch of the EAP, we have repeatedly called for a comprehensive evaluation of the programme. The recent unemployment figures do not lend themselves to the assessment Mr Yeates offered, and they certainly do not support the Minister's wish to expand the EAP, prior to a comprehensive analysis both of the programme itself and its effects. - Yours, etc.,
Carole Sullivan, Labour Market Coordinator, INOU, Dublin 1.